More than a year after his death, police arrested 32-year-old Brian Jones in connection with the case in August 2025. Burdine’s family is back in court as the case moves forward.
The Havelock man was arrested by Havelock Police and charged with death by distribution through sale.
Investigators say the North Carolina Medical Examiner determined Burdine died from fentanyl toxicity on August 30th, 2024.
I wanna be able to look my kid in the eye and be able to say we got justice for your daddy,” Natasha Burdine said, wife of the victim.
Jones was scheduled for a disposition hearing Wednesday afternoon in Craven County Superior Court.
According to figures provided by Fentanyl Victims Network, 380 fentanyl-related deaths were reported in Craven County between 2013 and 2025, with just six investigations leading to prosecutions.
After the hearing, Brian Jones still remains in the Craven County Jail. This case is still pending in Superior Court.
DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) — A drug trafficking ring in Durham has been dismantled following a yearlong joint investigation between the FBI Raleigh Durham Safe Streets Task Force and the Durham County Sheriff’s Office, officials said Monday.
FBI
According to the FBI, a total of 24.5 kilograms of cocaine and 2.5 kilograms of fentanyl were seized during the investigation, including from a tractor trailer caught in New Mexico.
Ten defendants were prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina and convicted as members of the Durham cocaine and fentanyl drug trafficking operation.
The FBI said the defendants were sentenced to federal prison during separate court appearances between Dec. 17, 2025, and July 8, 2026:
Khuram Choudhry, who was sentenced to 17 years on June 29, 2026
Kevin Johnson, who was sentenced to 17 years on Feb. 23, 2026
Shazad Khan, who was sentenced to 10 years on March 2, 2026
Jamaal Robertson, who was sentenced to five years and six months on Feb. 19, 2026
Dwight Chandler, who was sentenced to four years and three months on July 8, 2026
Shance Bostic, who was sentenced to three years on Feb. 25, 2026
Jason Chase, who was sentenced to two years and four months on March 3, 2026
Jerrell Green, who was sentenced to two years and six months on March 18, 2026
Wendy Rizo-Bodden, who was sentenced to two years on Feb. 20, 2026
Matt Morton, who was sentenced to seven months on Dec. 17, 2025
The federal prison sentences total 61 years and six months, according to the FBI.
“This joint operation demonstrates the power of federal and local law enforcement standing shoulder-to-shoulder,” Durham County Sheriff Clarence Birkhead said in a statement. “I’m proud of the work our investigators do every day in conjunction with the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force.
“Taking 10 dangerous drug traffickers off our streets — including repeat violent offenders who put law enforcement lives at risk — makes Durham County safer,” Birkhead continued in his statement. “Collectively, these defendants received more than six decades of federal prison time, which demonstrates our unwavering commitment to addressing drug trafficking and violent crime to protect everyone in our community.”
Reid Davis, the FBI Special Agent in Charge in North Carolina, said, “This investigation demonstrates the unwavering resolve of the FBI and our partners to dismantle the criminal networks flooding our communities with deadly narcotics.
“Over the course of a year, the FBI Raleigh Durham Safe Streets Task Force executed a coordinated, resource-intensive operation that removed significant quantities of fentanyl and cocaine from the pipeline and brought 10 offenders to justice,” Davis continued in his statement. “These sentences underscore a simple truth: if you traffic drugs in our communities, the FBI will find you, we will dismantle your operation, and you will be held fully accountable.”
North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement (ALE) agents said they arrested a Harnett County man with more than 30 grams of fentanyl, enough to kill 15,400 people.
Christopher William Johnston, 34, of Spring Lake, is charged with 10 counts of trafficking fentanyl, among other charges.
Agents said they searched a mobile home on Peggy Street on Thursday, seizing cocaine, opioids, psilocybin mushrooms, marijuana and over $12,000 in cash.
Johnston was arrested and charged with:
Felony trafficking in fentanyl – 10 counts
Felony conspiracy to traffic in fentanyl – 2 counts
Felony maintain a vehicle for a controlled substance – 2 counts
Felony assault on a law enforcement officer causing physical injury
Felony trafficking in opium
Felony possession with intent to sell or deliver cocaine
Felony possession of a Schedule I controlled substance
Assault with a deadly weapon on a law enforcement officer – 2 counts
Injury to personal property
Possession of drug paraphernalia
Possession of marijuana
Johnston is accused of trafficking the drugs at ABC-licensed businesses in Harnett County.
Johnston is also accused of trying to run over several officers while trying to avoid arrest, leaving one agent with minor injuries. He’s being held in the Harnett County Detention Center without bond.
The suspect’s brother, Nicholas Jacob Johnston, 36, of Spring Lake, was also charged with fentanyl trafficking and possession of drug paraphernalia. He has not been arrested.
HARNETT COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) – The North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement seized more than 15,400 lethal doses of fentanyl, following a month-long investigation into trafficking in Harnett County.
According to court records, Christopher Johnston was charged with the following:
10 counts of trafficking fentanyl
Two counts of conspiracy to traffic in fentanyl
Two counts of maintaining a vehicle for a controlled substance
One count of trafficking in opium
One count of possession of a schedule I controlled substance
One count of assault inflicting physical injury on a law enforcement officer
Two counts of assault with a deadly weapon
One count of injury to personal property
One count of possession of drug paraphernalia
One count of possession of marijuana
One count of possession of cocaine
Law enforcement said they also seized cocaine, opioids, psilocybin mushrooms, marijuana and over $12,000 in cash after executing a search warrant at Johnston’s home in Spring Lake.
During the arrest, court records say that Johnston tried to run over special agents during the arrest with a BMW. One agent had minor injuries, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Christopher Johnston’s brother, Nicholas Johnston, has been charged in connection with the investigation with the following, according to NCDPS:
Three counts of trafficking in fentanyl
One count of conspiring to traffic in fentanyl
Possession of drug paraphernalia.
Nicholas Johnston has not been arrested, according to law enforcement.
34-year-old Christopher Johnston received a $500,000 secured bond and will appear next in court on Nov. 10.
Cychlorphine is a lab-made opioid that laboratory tests found to be more potent than fentanyl.
Health officials warn that the drug has been found in illicit drugs, including powders and counterfeit pills made to look like prescription medications.
Cychlorphine’s strength can increase the risks of overdosing.
After years of fentanyl causing fatal overdoses, public officials are now warning of an even more powerful opioid.
After years of fentanyl causing fatal overdoses, public officials are now warning of an even more powerful opioid.
Cychlorphine (sy-KLOR-feen) is a synthetic, or lab-made, opioid — specifically, a class of drugs known as orphines. Created by researchers who were trying to find powerful painkillers in the 1960s, orphines were ultimately considered too strong and dangerous, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration never approved cychlorphine for medical use.
People who track illicit drugs in the United States first identifiedcychlorphine in the drug supply in 2024, and Reddit users were talking about it online that same year. The drug is now making headlines in connection with U.S. overdose deaths.
It was linked to a 16-year-old’s death in San Francisco in April. And in Knoxville, Tennessee, officials said cychlorphine had been detected inabout 50 suspected overdose deaths from July 2025 to early June.
Officials in Louisiana and Los Angeles County have issued public alerts warning residents of its risks as well.
Nationally, orphines don’t currently appear to be widespread, but “prevalence and trends are hard to discern,” said Jason R. Williams, a research scientist at the University of Washington’s Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute.
Hospitals and medical examiners’ toxicology tests and even crime labs sometimes fail to detect any given drug until it becomes a substance that officials are interested in tracking or collecting data on, he said.
The National Drug Control Policy office said it is currently most prevalent in Ohio, Texas and Tennessee.
Following a fatal overdose in Los Angeles County, public health officials there warnedthat cychlorphine is being mixed into the illicit drug supply without people’s knowledge. It has been found in powders, rocks or crystals, liquids and counterfeit pills made to look like prescription medications, they said.
How strong is cychlorphine?
The Drug Enforcement Administration describes fentanyl — a synthetic opioid that is approved for medical use — as about 100 times more potent than morphine.
Laboratory tests show cychlorphine is about 10 times more potent than fentanyl, said Alex Krotulski, director of toxicology and chemistry at the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education.
“That’s the only data that we have right now,” Krotulski said in July. Fentanyl has been studied in humans, but cychlorphine has not been studied in humans or animals, he said. “So we’re really finding out in real time what its effects on humans are.”
The drug’s potential effect on a person, however, depends on the dose, not just the cychlorphine’s potency.
